Jimmy the Gent (film)
Jimmy the Gent | |
---|---|
Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
Screenplay by | Bertram Millhauser |
Story by | Ray Nazarro Laird Doyle |
Produced by | Robert Lord |
Starring | James Cagney Bette Davis |
Cinematography | Ira H. Morgan |
Edited by | Thomas Richards |
Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 67 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Jimmy the Gent is a 1934 American
The screenplay by Bertram Millhauser was based on the story "The Heir Chaser" by Ray Nazarro and Laird Doyle.
Plot
The unscrupulous Jimmy Corrigan runs an agency that searches for
Cast
- James Cagney as Jimmy Corrigan
- Bette Davis as Joan Martin
- Allen Jenkins as Lou
- Alan Dinehart as Charles Wallingham
- Alice White as Mabel
- Arthur Hohl as Monty Barton
- Phillip Reed as Ronnie Gateson
- Hobart Cavanaugh as fake Worthingham
- Mayo Methot as Gladys Farrell
- Ralf Harolde as Hendrickson
- Merna Kennedy as typist
- Nora Lane as Sarah Posy Barton
Production
Prior to its release, the film's working titles were Blondes and Bonds and The Heir Chaser.[1]
Both Cagney and Davis considered Jimmy the Gent to be a throwaway studio assembly-line quickie film, and neither was happy about the assignment.[2] Cagney had the sides of his head shaved for the film, without the knowledge of either director Michael Curtiz or studio unit head Hal B. Wallis. Curtiz was stunned when he saw the haircut, and Wallis took it personally. Davis did not appreciate it either, and refused to have publicity pictures taken with Cagney.[2]
Reception
Jimmy the Gent did well at the box office,[2] and the critical response was positive as well. In his review in The New York Times, Mordaunt Hall described the film as "a brisk, slangy piece of work in which Mr. Cagney is as much of a pepper-pot as ever ... [he] tackles the barbed argot of his lines with speed and force ... Bette Davis is attractive and capable as Joan."[3] Variety said, "Jimmy the Gent ... [is] expert, thorough-going, typically Cagney ... and good for plenty of laughs."[4]
References
- TCM.com
- ^ TCM.com
- ^ Hall, Mordaunt (March 26, 1934) "James Cagney, Bette Davis and Alan Dinehart in a Film Concerned With the Missing Heir Racket" The New York Times
- ^ review Variety
External links
- Jimmy the Gent at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Jimmy the Gent at the TCM Movie Database
- Jimmy the Gent at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Still at gettyimages.com